Quick-break electric switch

ABSTRACT

A quick-break switch in which a contact-holder is associated to a movable weight pivotally connected to said contact-holder and adapted to strike the same in order to effect breaking responsively to the shifting of an actuating spring connected to said mass.

United States Patent Auchapt et a1. Jan. 9, 1973 s41 QUICK-BREAK ELECTRIC SWITCH 3,049,600 8/1962 Fraser ..200/67 B e 2 752 446 6/1956 Car1son.... ....200/67 B [75] Inventors. Rene Auchapt, Pans, Gerard Michel Junie, Bagnolet, both of France 2,455,927 12/1948 Grady ..200/67 B [73] Assignee: l Eqilipe mgnt (general Electrique Primary Examiner David Smith, JL

rance Attorney-Irving M. Weiner [22] Filed: May 12, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 142,674 ABSTRACT A quick-break switch in which a contact-holder is as- [30] F i A li ti p i i D sociated to a movable weight pivotally connected to said contact-holder and adapted to strike the same in May 27, 1970 France ..7019335 order to effect breaking responsively to the shifting of I [52] U S Cl 200/67 B 200/67 B an actuating spring connected to said mass.

[51] Int. Cl. .J. ..H0lh 13/28 [58] Field of Search ..200/67 E, 67 B References Cited 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,495,849 5/1924 Hodgkins ..200/67 B mmnzum 9197a 3.710.053

SHEEI 1 BF 2 PAT ENTEDJAI 91975 3.710 053 SHEET 2 0F 2 QUICK-BREAK ELECTRIC SWITCH The province of this invention is that of electric switches and selectors. I

Switches and selectors, especially those of small size, are usually of the quick-break type. Nevertheless, the pressure between the contacts varies widely, notably in the breaking sense, between the instant the operation begins and the instant when the break is effective. Further, the speed at which breaking is effected, at any rate initially, is usually low.

These shortcomings limit both the applicable load and the breaking capacity of such devices.

The present invention permits of obtaining quickbreak action at high opening speed and with a small variation in contact pressure during the break.

It accordingly provides a mechanism in which a contact-holder is associated to a movable weight hinged to it and capable of striking it to cause the contacts to open.

In one specific embodiment, cooperation of the movable weight with the contact-holder occurs on both sides of the latter, whereby said weight permits at once a quick-break action, a quick-make action, and holding of the contacts.

The contact-holder may be configured as a fork with two prongs between which the movable weight and an actuating spring are able to move, each prong embodying an indent the facing sides of which form articulation knife-edges. One of the knife-edges has an associated groove in the movable weight, bearing thereagainst, while the other reacts against a fixed member. The bottom of the fork acts as an anvil for the movable weight, and 'the latter is provided with two spaced abutments which alternately cooperate with said contact-holder.

An inverse arrangement would be possible, in which a movable weight straddles a contact-holder.

The movable weight is directly coupled to one end of at least one actuating spring the other end of which is connected to an actuating member which is adapted to shift said other end from one side to the other of the plane containing said knife-edges.

Thus the movable weight itself constitutes one of the component parts of a sort of toggle system which helps both to hold said contacts against each other and to separate them.

Because of the clearance existing between each face of the contact-holder and the striking facets of the movable weight, percussion is obtained after an initial travel which is covered in a time independent of the speed with which the end of the operating spring attached to the control member is moved.

The above-described arrangement fully meets the object of the present invention and permits of a wide variety of single-or multi-pole switchgear designs.

The description which follows with reference to the accompanying non-[imitative exemplary drawings will give a clear understanding of how the invention can be carried into practice.

In the drawings:

FlGQl is a part sectional viewing of a percussion type snap-acting switch in a resting configuration FIG. 2 correspondingly shows the same mechanism in the configuration preparatory to operation FIG. 3 correspondingly shows the mechanism in the configuration preparatory to percussion an inner indent 7 and the opposite sides of each of these indents are shaped as knife-edges 8 and 9;

A fixed support 10 is formed with an indent 11 to provide a passageway for and free movement of an actuating spring 12 and of a substantially lute -shaped movable weight 13, and the faces on one side of the branches bounding the indent 11 are formed with a contact-holder to fixed contact-holder support articulating means comprised of notches 14 and knife-edges 9, the notches 14 receiving the knife-edges 9.

One of the arms 15 of lute 13 with its weighted head is likewise shaped substantially as a fork the prongs of I which confine a passage for spring 12 and each embody a moveable weight to contact-holder articulating means comprised of a notch 16 and a knife-edge 8, the notch 16 receiving the knife-edge 8. The other lute arm 17 is provided with a thinned-down inner surface 18 having a hole 19 formed therein for fastening one of the ends ofspring 12.

Opposite thinned-down surface 18, lute arm 17 is formed with two opposite external facets 20 and 21 capable of cooperating with the surface adjacent the closed end of contact-holder fork 1.

The gap between facets 20 and 21 is relatively large by comparison with the thickness of contact-holder l.

The other end of spring 12 is fastened to a transverse pushbutton 22 which operates against a countering spring 23. The travel of pushbutton 22 causes said other end of spring 12 to shift from one side to the other of the plane containing articulating means such as knife-edges 8 and 9 and across the plane containing the notches l4 and 16 formed on fixed support 10 and lute 13 respectively. I

As shown in FIG. 1, when pushbutton 22 is raised (as viewed in the drawings), contact point 2 is held against its upper resting contact 4 by reason of the fact that both ends of spring 12 lie above said plane.

To actuate the spring all that is necessary is to depress pushbutton 22 and thereby cause the fastening point of spring 12 on pushbutton 22 to shift below said plane. Initially, this process takes place without a substantial reduction in the pressure with which contact point 2 is applied against resting contact 4, until the axis of the spring croses the plane of knife-edges 8 and 9, on, in effect, the straight line formed by knife-edges 8.

Once this configuration has been reached, the lute 13 trips. Facet 21 leaves contact-holder l and the lute rocks over, but without contact point 2 leaving resting contact 4. As shown in FIG. 3, this movement oflute 13 causes facet 20 to strike contact-holder '1 at relatively high speed and to transmit high kinetic energy thereto. The motion continues until contact point 3 is applied against the opposite resting contact 5, as shown in FIG.

4, and this later configuration remains stable since the axis of spring 12 lies completely below the plane of knife-edges 8 and 9.

if pushbutton 22 is released, the above operations are reversed, percussion being effected by facet 21 of lute 13 against the underneath of contact-holder l.

A device of this kind can obviously form a singlepole switch if current is led in through the support 10 and contact-holder l is made of conducting material, in which case one of fixed contacts 4 or 5 is insulated and the other is conducting and connected to a current outlet. lt is possible with a similar arrangement to provide a bipolar switch by connecting the two fixed contacts 4 and 5 to current outlets. A multipole switch can be provided by multiplying the number of support/contact/lute systems and by actuating them with a single pushbutton.

The lute 13 is preferably made of insulating material. in the case of switchgear required to operate at high temperatures however, it is possible to use ceramics if electrical insulation is required, or metals if it is not, unless of course it is possible to use metals to obtain insulation in a different manner. Clearly, the unit may be provided with or without an enclosure, and if such enclosure is required it may be leaktight or not. The securing means can be provided in the form either of brackets or holes, or of superposable keyed elements.

The connection means may be provided in the form of tags ready for welding, in the form of pins or sockets, or in the form of snap connections utilizing lockable fixtures.

Lastly, spring 12 can be moved either in translation as above described, by direct means, or through the agency of a variety of devices involving levers, wheels, balls or rollers, by telescopic or other actuating means. Alternatively, the spring could be shifted as'the result of a rotation responsively to camming means or an ordinary crank, in which case the spring fastening point describes an unhindered circular are which is caused to cross the plane containing said knife edges.

It goes without saying furthermore that changes and subsitutions of parts may be made to the embodiments herein described. For instance, the single-contactholder could carry a plurality of contacts which are either interconnected electrically 'or separated from one another by insulation, while the electrical junction with the moving contact points could be provided via flexible conductors, Similarly, the moving percussion weight could be caused to straddle a contact-holder, associated springs being arranged laterally.

What we claim is 1. A quick-break electric switch, comprising a contact-holder upon which is hinged a substantially luteshaped moveable weight which strikes said contactholder to effect a break, said contact-holder is substantially fork-shaped having two prongs, a fixed contactholder support substantially fork-shaped having two prongs, an'actuating spring attached to said moveable weight the axis of which is moveable on either side of a plane which contains a contact-holder to fixed contactholder support articulating means and a moveable weight to contact-holder articulating means, said moveable weight and said actuating spring are displaceable between said prongs of said contact-holder,

said contact-holder to fixed contact-holder support an tlculating means and said moveable weight to said contact-holder articulating means each comprise at least one knife-edge, said moveable weight has a weighty head surmounting said contact-holder support and contains means defining notches in one branch of said luteshape, said means defining notches operatively associate with said knife-edges on said contact-holder and disposed on the other branch of said lute-shape are two mutually spaced percussion facets which cooperate with the closed portion of said fork-shaped contactholder, said other branch of said lute-shape being formed externally with a thinned-down portion provided with means defining a hole for fastening said actuating spring.

2. A switch according to claim 1, wherein said prongs of said fork-shaped contact-holder are each formed with means defining an indent, the facing sides of said means defining said indent being shpaed into knifeedges which engage respectively into means defining notches in said fixed contact-holder support and into said means defining notches in said lute-shaped weight.

3. A quick-break electric switch comprising:

a contact-holder;

a moveable weight articulately mounted to said contact-holder;

a fixed contact-holder support part upon which said contact-holder is articulately mounted;

at least two oppositely disposed striking facets formed in said moveable weight, disposed on opposite sides of said contact-holder; and

an actuating spring affixed to said weight, the axis of which is moveable on either side of the plane which contains said articulate mounting of said weight to said contact-holder and said articulate mounting of said contact-holder to said fixed contact-holder support. 

1. A quick-break electric switch, comprising a contact-holder upon which is hinged a substantially lute-shaped moveable weight which strikes said contact-holder to effect a break, said contact-holder is substantially fork-shaped having two prongs, a fixed contact-holder support substantially fork-shaped having two prongs, an actuating spring attached to said moveable weight the axis of which is moveable on either side of a plane which contains a contact-holder to fixed contact-holder support articulating means and a moveable weight to contact-holder articulating means, said moveable weight and said actuating spring are displaceable between said prongs of said contactholder, said contact-holder to fixed contact-holder support articulating means and said moveable weight to said contactholder articulating means each comprise at least one knife-edge, said moveable weight has a weighty head surmounting said contactholder support and contains means defining notches in one branch of said lute-shape, said means defining notches operatively associate with said knife-edges on said contact-holder and disposed on the other branch of said lute-shape are two mutually spaced percussion facets which cooperate with the closed portion of said fork-shaped contact-holder, said other branch of said lute-shape being formed externally with a thinned-down portion provided with means defining a hole for fastening said actuating spring.
 2. A switch according to claim 1, wherein said prongs of said fork-shaped contact-holder are each formed with means defining an indent, the facing sides of said means defining said indent being shpaed into knife-edges which engage respectively into means defining notches in said fixed contact-holder support and into said means defining notches in said lute-shaped weight.
 3. A quick-break electric switch comprising: a contact-holder; a moveable weight articulately mounted to said contact-holder; a fixed contact-holder support part upon which said contaCt-holder is articulately mounted; at least two oppositely disposed striking facets formed in said moveable weight, disposed on opposite sides of said contact-holder; and an actuating spring affixed to said weight, the axis of which is moveable on either side of the plane which contains said articulate mounting of said weight to said contact-holder and said articulate mounting of said contact-holder to said fixed contact-holder support. 